This past adult weekend I started my shift on Gold Reception. This is for returning guests or upgraded ones i'm pretty sure. It has never been busy when i've worked here before but it was myself, another red and someone from guest services. So the three of us just spent the two hours checking people into their accoms and talking about the bubble, boyfriends, the usual stuff. It started raining a bit, and I had to work main gate. I love working main gate because of the team there. Its resort safety and Reds on check in days and its a lot of fun. Apart from the fact that bus loads of 30 already drunk men are hitting on you and making disgusting actions through the window. Its probably my favorite detail on adult breaks. Later that night I worked the silent disco, headphone party. Its usually lots of fun but by the end of it I was just tired and a bit fed up. The people on resort are all piss drunk by about 10pm, and the disco starts shortly after. I don't think anyone in there is ever sober actually, except for the team working. When I walked through to pick up extra headphones, one of the guys grabbed my butt. I turned around and told him to not touch me. I was clearly not kidding and he clearly didn't care. Once I turned around to walk away, he grabbed me again. This time I went straight to the doors where the contractors work. The contractors are a ton of resort safety that are brought in just for the adult breaks as we don't have a big enough team. He told me that he had to warn the guy first and that he couldn't just kick him out. I found that frustrating because I don't think its right for men to come onto resort and harass team just because they are drunk. But that is the nature of these weekends sometimes.
Saturday I worked Bingo. Bingo in England is different from Canada though. The bingo cards here are just numbers and they play for full house (all the numbers) not lines or squares like back home. I have yet to be on a microphone since being here as i'm somewhat nervous about my accent and how it will be taken. I get called American constantly and have to repeat myself at times. I went on the mic during Bingo and a table of about 20 women were just really rude. For no reason, they weren't drunk, and didn't need to be, but were anyways. Its bad enough when the men hit on and harass you, but its just plain annoying when the women are rude too. I just smiled anyways and let it go, as I can't really do much else. I worked this detail with Tiffany which was good, and then we both did karoke later that night. This was a first as well. Everyone that sang was drunk and it was pretty funny. The venue it was in wasn't busy at all, but that's probably because the Chelsea football game was on, and Brits love football like fat kids love cake. It was a good time and finished early as well which was nice. There was a huge hen party and three of the woman were dressed up in the outfits at the very end of Mamma Mia, during the credits. They sang super trouper and danced the routine as well. Anytime I hear Abba it instantly reminds me of Dad. He would have loved it! Once it finished, I went out for a few drinks with the team and ended up in Burger King at the end of it, clear signs of a good night.
Sunday and Monday I had off with Matt. So we went to London. We didn't really have any set plans of what we wanted to do, just time out of the bubble together. He worked midnight until eight in the morning, had a quick nap, and then we went to the train station. We got to london around four or five o clock and then walked around until we found a hotel. We stayed at the Premier Inn which are apparently everywhere in England, British version of Best Western. It had only been open six days and was in the center of Leicester Square. It was perfect. The room was purple and white and everything was fresh and clean. The location couldn't have been any better, one tube stop away from covent gardens, right next to the cinema and tons of restaurants. We dropped our bag off at the hotel, then headed off to walk around a bit. We had dinner at Bella Italia and it was delicious. Little garlic breads, then spicy shrimp pasta. With, of course, wine. It was perfect. After a bit more walking around, and through covent garden where there was a man playing his guitar on a cobble stone road with a crowd gathered. It couldn't have been any better. We ended the night watching American Pie the Reunion which was hilarious! Then went back to the hotel after a long day. The next morning we did a bit of shopping, walked all over the place, past Buckingham Palace and stopped in St. James Park for a bit. I'm from a small town in Canada but I love the big city lifestyle, not to forget that I'm a country girl too though. Matt doesn't enjoy being in downtown London for long periods of time, so we went to the park so he could relax a bit, as the whole weekend had been mainly about me, he deserved some time too. When we were walking around, we found this store that sold only Australian, New Zealand and Canadian things! It was amazing. It had fruit loops; maple syrup; tootsie rolls; quaker oats oatmeal; french vanilla timmies; so many things! Matt got me a box of Dad's Cookies, and got himself a tootsie roll as I wouldn't share with him the last one that I had sent to me from Canada. Just a few spots over from the store, was a pub called the Maple Leaf. Unfortunately it was under construction, im hoping to have Canada Day off though, so I can go back for it! How cool would that be?! In this same block was T.G.I.Fridays. Matt has never been so thats where we went for lunch. I had too massive Bahama Mama's, they were unbelievable, and a chicken salad which was delicious. Matt ordered a burger because it "challenged" him. The menu read something along the lines of "Can you handle it?" and of course he felt the need to then be manly and accept. Regardless, I think he enjoyed it. After this we did a bit more wandering, then made our way to Victoria Station to head home. I fell asleep on the train back, and had an early night once home in the bubble. It was an absolutely amazing weekend and couldn't have gone any better than it did. After being so home sick, and not feeling well, Matt went above and beyond to make me feel better. I honestly feel like the luckiest girl in the world. So happy to have him.
On another good note, I am DJing for the first time tomorrow night in Hotshots, as well as the following night. Then I have Friday off where I'm going to take a party bus to a casino and then a club in another town for one of the Reds birthdays. Followed by an adult weekend of DJing Jaks on Saturday and Sunday with my best girl, Gemma. Things are looking up again. Good days and bad days but overall loving it!
5/22/2012
5/17/2012
Rough Week, Fresh Start
Another adult weekend has passed, and being a Red, I didn't have to work too much. I was on main gate for a few hours to check the guests in, and then I had the night off. Saturday and Sunday was spent in the conference center training. I am now a fully qualified fencing coach. I can teach fencing anywhere in the world. It was a really fun course and something I had never done before. I can't wait until we start it here in our activities. Only seven reds are qualified to teach it, and then sports coaches can as well. The sessions are only an hour in length and are for ages 9-17, so it'll be interesting to see how much we can teach in such a short time. I only went out the Saturday night of the adult weekend and didn't stay out too late, as I had training early the next day.
We are now into another family week and its fairly busy. This past week has been a bit frustrating for me. My last two room mates moved out and the accom was an absolute mess. I spent one of my mornings cleaning it all up and organizing it the way I wanted for when Ella moved in. Ella moved in one of the nights that I was at work, with help from some of the guys. Its good to have just the two of us in here. We have started painting and moved all of her stuff over. Its starting to look really good, but not even closed to finished yet. We haven't heard of anyone else moving in just yet, but there is redcoat auditions this weekend so im sure we will have some new roomies soon.
Being here is worse than highschool sometimes in the sense of rumours and drama. I try to avoid the drama but the maturity level of the team is quite low at times. Another rumor went around about me this week, and I just didn't stand for it. I confronted the person and kicked off. I'm so sick of hearing new things about me every week that aren't even remotely true. So this past week has been me stressed out with the accom, rumours, having a cold, and to top it all off... Sunday was mothers day in Canada.
My family just bought a cottage back home, and on Sunday had everyone go there for a BBQ. Sunday in England was spent finishing my course, feeling sick, dealing with rumours, and wanting to cry. My dad phoned me so I could speak to everyone and it was really nice, but I didn't mention anything about how I was feeling as I didn't want to ruin the day for them back home. It was really difficult and I wish I could have been home for it.
A few days have gone by and I was feeling even worse mentally and physically. Finally yesterday I had a day off, and just broke down. Everyone I am close with here is going home this weekend to be with their families as its an adult break and we aren't really needed. Ella's dad came to pick her up and was wall papering her room. I spoke to him and he just reminded me of my dad. Im happy for everyone that they can go home and be with their families, but it was just too difficult yesterday for me. So I went into my room and had a break down. Ella was there for me, and so was Louis. I absolutely love being here, and my job and all the bits that come with it, but when you have a bad week, there is few people to turn to. I walked around teamlines to see if there was someone to talk to, which made me realize, there are few people here that actually care all that much. I went to Birds accom and we went and had Burger King with her boyfriend. We just talked it all out and it made me feel a bit better. Then I went and saw Gemma and she was comforting as well. Matt was working the whole night so I was left to deal with it on my own. He has been there whenever i've felt homesick even though he hasn't always known when im down.
I was never the type of person to get home sick, especially because I enjoy being here. Just having bad days here can easily get you into a lonely state of mind. I guess you don't really know what you have until its gone. I miss my family a lot and wish they could be here, but this is all part of growing up and doing what I want to do. I chose to come here and i'm glad I did. I've become closer to my family I think and i've made some amazing friends. This has been a rough week, but today is a new day, and I'm going to start fresh.
We are now into another family week and its fairly busy. This past week has been a bit frustrating for me. My last two room mates moved out and the accom was an absolute mess. I spent one of my mornings cleaning it all up and organizing it the way I wanted for when Ella moved in. Ella moved in one of the nights that I was at work, with help from some of the guys. Its good to have just the two of us in here. We have started painting and moved all of her stuff over. Its starting to look really good, but not even closed to finished yet. We haven't heard of anyone else moving in just yet, but there is redcoat auditions this weekend so im sure we will have some new roomies soon.
Being here is worse than highschool sometimes in the sense of rumours and drama. I try to avoid the drama but the maturity level of the team is quite low at times. Another rumor went around about me this week, and I just didn't stand for it. I confronted the person and kicked off. I'm so sick of hearing new things about me every week that aren't even remotely true. So this past week has been me stressed out with the accom, rumours, having a cold, and to top it all off... Sunday was mothers day in Canada.
My family just bought a cottage back home, and on Sunday had everyone go there for a BBQ. Sunday in England was spent finishing my course, feeling sick, dealing with rumours, and wanting to cry. My dad phoned me so I could speak to everyone and it was really nice, but I didn't mention anything about how I was feeling as I didn't want to ruin the day for them back home. It was really difficult and I wish I could have been home for it.
A few days have gone by and I was feeling even worse mentally and physically. Finally yesterday I had a day off, and just broke down. Everyone I am close with here is going home this weekend to be with their families as its an adult break and we aren't really needed. Ella's dad came to pick her up and was wall papering her room. I spoke to him and he just reminded me of my dad. Im happy for everyone that they can go home and be with their families, but it was just too difficult yesterday for me. So I went into my room and had a break down. Ella was there for me, and so was Louis. I absolutely love being here, and my job and all the bits that come with it, but when you have a bad week, there is few people to turn to. I walked around teamlines to see if there was someone to talk to, which made me realize, there are few people here that actually care all that much. I went to Birds accom and we went and had Burger King with her boyfriend. We just talked it all out and it made me feel a bit better. Then I went and saw Gemma and she was comforting as well. Matt was working the whole night so I was left to deal with it on my own. He has been there whenever i've felt homesick even though he hasn't always known when im down.
I was never the type of person to get home sick, especially because I enjoy being here. Just having bad days here can easily get you into a lonely state of mind. I guess you don't really know what you have until its gone. I miss my family a lot and wish they could be here, but this is all part of growing up and doing what I want to do. I chose to come here and i'm glad I did. I've become closer to my family I think and i've made some amazing friends. This has been a rough week, but today is a new day, and I'm going to start fresh.
5/07/2012
Gators in London
I was planning on going to London with Matt last week, but because we live in England, the weather was supposed to be miserable that day, so we passed on it, and went to Chichester instead. It ended up being a gorgeous day out, and was nice to leave the bubble. We walked through the town, did a bit of shopping, and went to the famous nandos. Everyone here has an obsession with this restaurant. It is mainly meals with some sort of chicken and you can choose the level of hotness. I went with Hot because I like things spicy and most british foods are very bland anyways, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad. Nothing Franks Red Hot couldn't have prepared me for. I was wrong! Half way through my wrap I was near tears at the table. Matt found this funny, my tongue and lips were burning for at least another hour after leaving. When walking through the town, there was a guy singing and playing guitar so we sat down to listen for a bit. A few songs in, and he sang Free Falling. There really isn't a day that goes by that Neil doesn't cross my mind. It was a small reminder from him, knowing hes always with me. He was the cherry on top of my perfect sundae.
At some point during the week, Matt and I went on a double date with another redcoat and resort safety. This would be Paul and Gemma. At first I was unsure about Paul, as I am quite protective of Gemma. Shes my babygirl, and my one of my closest friends here. She is Butlins tallest female redcoat, and an amazing DJ. Her siblings are lovely and I can't wait until she takes me home with her so I can spend time with her family. We went to a cute little spot in town and had a good laugh out. It was nice to not really be with a large group of ents. I loved the double date, and knowing Gemma, she'll be pushing for another one.
Friday was the start of the football weekend, and as i have nothing nice to say, i will say nothing at all.
I spent all day Saturday with my future room mate Ella, shopping for stuff for our accom. It was a really nice day out for some bonding and we found the cutest stuff for our accom. We are quite similar in tastes, and although not too loud, definitely has a funny side. I enjoy her company and know that we don't have to go out and do a ton of stuff, we can just sit in a chat for hours. Shes a good friend to have here and im looking forward to seeing where it goes. Saturday night, Matt and I were going to go for dinner, but the Beachcomber was packed so we ended up ordering pizza, having a drink in center stage, then going home and watching a bit of Harry Potter. It was a nice night in, as it doesn't matter where we go, I just like being around him.
Sunday morning, I woke up, got ready and headed off to the train station. The weather was rainy and cold, as to be expected of typical british weather. I was on my way to London. Michelle Presse and Chris Madronich, two very good canadian friends of mine that I went to school with back home, were in London, so we all met up. Michelles sister Nicole was there as well. Michelle has spent almost a year in Italy as an au pair, and wanted to come and see London. Her sister just arrived in Italy to be an au pair as well, so they came together. Chris landed in London about a week or so ago to try and find work over here, maybe do an internship. London should take about an hour and a half from Bognor, on a good day. Sunday, is never a good day to travel in England. Trains are delayed, or cancelled or not running, or any other excuse to make Sunday a miserable day of travel. I got to the train station and found out I now had to wait 45 minutes for my train. Once on it, I had to get off at the next station and wait even longer for the next one. I was headed to London Victoria, when I needed to go to London Bridge. So i hopped off, ran platforms and got on the right train.. Shortly after being on this one, I got a phone call from Michelle saying she wanted to meet at Westminster Abbey.. "no problem". This meant I had to switch back onto the original train that I was on!!! Sitting next to me was an older gentlemen who I asked for a bit of help, as he seemed to be more local than tourist looking in my opinion. I ended up spending about an hour or so travelling with him. He is a 43-year old mounty policeman. The day before, he worked in Wembley stadium on a horse for crowd control of the venue filled with 100,000 fans. So crazy. Really nice guy, and he pointed me in the right direction. When I finally met up with the girls and Chris, we did a bit of walking around, went to a pub to grab some food. Then I couldn't help myself, I had to show them a real british shopping experience. Thats right, Primark. Primark in London was absolutely manic. I've never seen anything like it. Two floors of messy chaos!! We did a bit of shopping, then went our separate ways, as I knew I had a long journey ahead of me to get home. It was really nice seeing them, and I love going to London, so it was definitely a good day. The bad thing about London though, is the people. Its like all of the assholes of England, reside in London. Any person I talked to, was just miserable and rude. And god forbid you made any eye contact with people in Primark.. you would've been stabbed. On the train home, I sat with a guy named Ed. He recently graduated from the university of Chichester (town near bognor) with a French & Anthropology degree. He was coming home from a weekend in London for one of his friends birthdays. The day before, he saw Rupert Grint in a cafe in London... yes that is Ron Weasley! SO JEALOUS. He was a really funny guy, and good company to have on the somewhat long journey home. Matt picked me up from the train station with his friend Wick. She used to work safety and her boyfriend, who also worked with them, was down for the night. They are some of Matts closest friends, so we all went for a drink when I was back. It ended up being a really funny night, and I learned that I can outdrink Matt with jager. Well done Canada. ;) This morning I was treated with a breakfast sandwhich for taking care of him being drunk. Not a bad way to start my morning. I got to work main gate today with him which was fun as well. Im working Centre Stage tonight with about seven redcoats so it should be a really good time. Well thats it for now, until next time xo.
At some point during the week, Matt and I went on a double date with another redcoat and resort safety. This would be Paul and Gemma. At first I was unsure about Paul, as I am quite protective of Gemma. Shes my babygirl, and my one of my closest friends here. She is Butlins tallest female redcoat, and an amazing DJ. Her siblings are lovely and I can't wait until she takes me home with her so I can spend time with her family. We went to a cute little spot in town and had a good laugh out. It was nice to not really be with a large group of ents. I loved the double date, and knowing Gemma, she'll be pushing for another one.
Friday was the start of the football weekend, and as i have nothing nice to say, i will say nothing at all.
I spent all day Saturday with my future room mate Ella, shopping for stuff for our accom. It was a really nice day out for some bonding and we found the cutest stuff for our accom. We are quite similar in tastes, and although not too loud, definitely has a funny side. I enjoy her company and know that we don't have to go out and do a ton of stuff, we can just sit in a chat for hours. Shes a good friend to have here and im looking forward to seeing where it goes. Saturday night, Matt and I were going to go for dinner, but the Beachcomber was packed so we ended up ordering pizza, having a drink in center stage, then going home and watching a bit of Harry Potter. It was a nice night in, as it doesn't matter where we go, I just like being around him.
Sunday morning, I woke up, got ready and headed off to the train station. The weather was rainy and cold, as to be expected of typical british weather. I was on my way to London. Michelle Presse and Chris Madronich, two very good canadian friends of mine that I went to school with back home, were in London, so we all met up. Michelles sister Nicole was there as well. Michelle has spent almost a year in Italy as an au pair, and wanted to come and see London. Her sister just arrived in Italy to be an au pair as well, so they came together. Chris landed in London about a week or so ago to try and find work over here, maybe do an internship. London should take about an hour and a half from Bognor, on a good day. Sunday, is never a good day to travel in England. Trains are delayed, or cancelled or not running, or any other excuse to make Sunday a miserable day of travel. I got to the train station and found out I now had to wait 45 minutes for my train. Once on it, I had to get off at the next station and wait even longer for the next one. I was headed to London Victoria, when I needed to go to London Bridge. So i hopped off, ran platforms and got on the right train.. Shortly after being on this one, I got a phone call from Michelle saying she wanted to meet at Westminster Abbey.. "no problem". This meant I had to switch back onto the original train that I was on!!! Sitting next to me was an older gentlemen who I asked for a bit of help, as he seemed to be more local than tourist looking in my opinion. I ended up spending about an hour or so travelling with him. He is a 43-year old mounty policeman. The day before, he worked in Wembley stadium on a horse for crowd control of the venue filled with 100,000 fans. So crazy. Really nice guy, and he pointed me in the right direction. When I finally met up with the girls and Chris, we did a bit of walking around, went to a pub to grab some food. Then I couldn't help myself, I had to show them a real british shopping experience. Thats right, Primark. Primark in London was absolutely manic. I've never seen anything like it. Two floors of messy chaos!! We did a bit of shopping, then went our separate ways, as I knew I had a long journey ahead of me to get home. It was really nice seeing them, and I love going to London, so it was definitely a good day. The bad thing about London though, is the people. Its like all of the assholes of England, reside in London. Any person I talked to, was just miserable and rude. And god forbid you made any eye contact with people in Primark.. you would've been stabbed. On the train home, I sat with a guy named Ed. He recently graduated from the university of Chichester (town near bognor) with a French & Anthropology degree. He was coming home from a weekend in London for one of his friends birthdays. The day before, he saw Rupert Grint in a cafe in London... yes that is Ron Weasley! SO JEALOUS. He was a really funny guy, and good company to have on the somewhat long journey home. Matt picked me up from the train station with his friend Wick. She used to work safety and her boyfriend, who also worked with them, was down for the night. They are some of Matts closest friends, so we all went for a drink when I was back. It ended up being a really funny night, and I learned that I can outdrink Matt with jager. Well done Canada. ;) This morning I was treated with a breakfast sandwhich for taking care of him being drunk. Not a bad way to start my morning. I got to work main gate today with him which was fun as well. Im working Centre Stage tonight with about seven redcoats so it should be a really good time. Well thats it for now, until next time xo.
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